During the week of 11—18 September 2015, the Deutsche Internationale Schule Johannesburg
(DSJ) celebrated its 125th birthday.

An Orchestra Evening was highly anticipated after months of hard work. Students performed
under the baton of famed conductor Richard Cock.

This event was followed by the Festakt (special ceremony), which brought a number of stakeholders together. A well-balanced mix of speeches alternated with entertainment, provided by the choirs of the Vorschule and Kindergarten, with Peter Johannsen on the piano, and the DSJ marimba band.

Then guests were ushered onto the DSJ hockey field, which was beautifully transformed into a German Village Fair. Current families and staff members were joined by ex-pupils and ex-colleagues for a very festive and reminiscent celebration.

The school community reassembled in the Friedenskirche on Sunday morning. This is the place where the old school in Hillbrow was situated. The sermon was further enhanced by the wind band of the Nordrand Gemeinde, DSJ flautists and the choir of the Church of Peace.

The birthday week continued on the Monday and Wednesday evenings with an entertaining version of the German classic drama, Woyzeck. In between, on the Tuesday, each section of the school organised educational and fun activities suited to each age group. In a second
session, the entire secondary school simultaneously took part in ‘The Crazy
Games’. Simple, short and fun challenges were set up by the prefects.

A highlight was the huge cake, made up of 1 200 individual cupcakes and a chocolate centrepiece in the form of the DSJ bell tower. It was ceremoniously sliced and soon gobbled up on the hockey field, to the accompaniment of the song ‘Zum Geburtstag, liebe DSJ ’ (‘Happy Birthday, dear DSJ’). After a line dance competition, student DJs Munashe Kugarakuripi and Tomislav Popov provided the thrilling sounds for a Colour Fest.

On Thursday, the DSJ celebrated Arbor Day and filled the gardens with new plants. That afternoon, a special event was held to thank the staff for their contributions to the school.

On Friday evening, the festwoche ended with a Grand Ball. Good music, entertainment, fine dining and dancing delighted the guests. The festwoche had a most fitting and elegant conclusion.